Fever
by I Give Headaches To Aspirin
Summary: Alucard suddenly becomes ill, with no explanation. His sudden collapse causes panic within the Hellsing ranks. And with a mysterious enemy approaching, they need their vampire more than ever.
1. Chapter 1

"ALUCARD!"

The vampire jerked awake in his coffin with a groan as his master's voice echoed throughout his mind.

It was alright for her, she wasn't called upon at ungodly times to go out on some wild goose chase.

And he didn't mean the mercenaries.

He stumbled over to a wall and phased through, dragging himself up to his master's office.

Integra paused, staring at her vampire.

While usually, he looked completely flawless in the way he dressed, stood and spoke. He looked incredibly dishevelled at the moment. His clothing was rumpled, his hair tangled and messed, his red eyes were dim, lacking the usual spark, his posture was slumped and his speech dragged, almost slurring.

"Yes, master?"

"I have a mission for you. There's been a disturbance a few miles from here and it needs to be taken care of before it gets out of hand. Take Seras and the Geese with you, it'll be a chance to get them out into field for some more practice."

"Yes my master." He phased through the wall and Integra shook her head with a frown

He was just acting like that for attention.

As Alucard shot the ghouls down, he could feel his nausea rising quickly. He trembled lightly with the effort it took to stop himself from giving in. That would give the ghouls a chance to attack him while he was vulnerable. And he didn't want to look weak in front of Seras or the mercenaries.

The gunshots soon stopped and Pip stood tall with a gigantic grin. "Well, mission accomplished men. Let's get back to base before we freeze our asses off!"

They began to head back towards the off road trucks when Alucard felt a sudden wave of dizziness and the world slanted. Pip cursed in shock and rushed to catch him as he was the closest.

He knew they were talking to him, he could see through his blurred sight that their mouths were moving as they yelled in panic, but their voices sounded like they were coming from the bottom of a deep well. His eyes slid shut against his will and he fell unconscious.

Pip lowered the now unaware vampire to the forest ground and they stared down at him helplessly. He lay limp on the autumn leaves, his hair spread around his head like a dark halo.

Pip frowned, yanked off a glove and hesitantly reached forward, pressing a hand to Alucard's brow.

He was burning up.

As far as he could remember, vampires were as cold as ice when it came to their body temperature and NEVER got sick. Not ever.

"We have to get back to base now!" he ordered. He pulled his glove back on and slid an arm underneath the vampire's knees and back, lifting him up and heading towards one of the trucks.

Seras stepped forward to help but Pip shook his head. "I've got him Seraz, can you get the doors for me?" The blonde opened the doors of the van and the mercenary stepped inside, lowering Alucard to the floor, pillowing his head with his legs.

He was shivering, his eyes rolling as he struggled to regain consciousness.

They drove back to the manor at speeds they were sure the organization would get fined for at some point and had to out drive a police car halfway back.

They finally got back and Pip hauled Alucard up again before turning to one of his soldiers.

"Inform Sir Integra of his condition and tell her that I took him down to the basement."

"The basement sir?"

"His room is down there. It's cold so it might help reduce the fever. Now go!" And without another word, he turned and made for the stairs that lead to the lower levels of the manor.

He quickly made his way through the hallways, frowning as his breath came out as white mist in the frosty air. It was icy down here. 'The damn vampire had better be grateful.' He thought.

He walked into Alucard's room and sat him on the lid of the coffin, letting him fall forward against his shoulder while he flipped on the dim lights. The vampire unconsciously winced at the lights and shifted uncomfortably. "Sorry." Pip muttered.

He unknotted the cravat, removed the red trench coat, unbuttoned the vest and shirt and pulled them off, revealing the vampire's pale chest.

He lay him down and ran back down the hallway to one of the bathrooms, filling a basin with water, grabbing a wash cloth and hurrying back as fast as he could without spilling too much water. He had had to do this once before when one of his soldiers had gotten an injury and it had gotten infected, making him fevered and incredibly ill. Unfortunately, he hadn't survived the night, and he didn't want that to happen again anytime soon to anyone he knew.

He placed the basin down next to the coffin and dunked the washcloth in before wiping the damp material over the fevered vampire's face.

He made a noise deep in his throat and twitched, frowning slightly as the water ran down his face and neck.

His skin burned like the fires of hell.

What was happening?


	2. Chapter 2

I know I haven't updated in practically a decade and a half, I'm so horrible I know! *hides* I just was going through a stage of complete and utter writer's block for EVERYTHING!

I know this chapter is really short after so long, but this idea sprang at me out of the blue this afternoon and had to spit it out before it was lost to me.

* * *

><p>The hours passed by slowly, and Alucard's condition did not improve in the slightest. If anything, it got worse.<p>

Where as before, Pip had been concerned, now he was outright panicking. The fever was even higher, and the vampire was starting to ramble deliriously in an unknown language.

'C-Captain. I'm sorry sir. I can't hold on. I-It's too much.'

Pip shut his eyes in frustration and shook his head to try and rid himself of the memories of his lost comrade. The man's last words were apologies for no being strong enough to live, and begging him to take care of his family.

It couldn't happen again. He'd lost that man to fever, and now it was happening right in front of him once again.

The door burst open and his head whirled to stare. His hand shot to his pistol strapped to his side out of instinct.

It was only the boss.

"How is he?" Integra asked quietly.

Pip removed his hand from his firearm and turned back to the vampire who was weakly moving his head back and forth feverishly.

"Not... Not good." He replied solemnly. "His fever is very high, and is still rising."

Integra sighed and leant again the wall, her shoulders slumped. "How could this have happened? Nothing like this has ever occurred before."

"I don't know Sir, there is nothing that I can see that would indicate poison was injected into him, and I didn't think vampires could become sick."

"In all truth, they can't. They're frozen in death, they have no immune systems to speak of, and yet he burns as if he has an immune system fighting a disease." She sighed.

"W-What should we do?" He asked uncertainly.

"We can only wait and hope the fever reduces and he wakes. Other than that... There is nothing we can do."

"So we're helpless?" He asked incredulously.

"You can't fight an illness with a bullet Captain. As much as I wish we could assist in helping him fight this, this is a battle he must win on his own."

* * *

><p>The dripping sound echoed throughout the room, as did the frightened breathing of a human.<p>

The young woman's eyes shot around in horror, not wanting to look, and yet unable to look away.

The dead bodies littered the room, blood surrounding them, and dripping from the ceiling where limbs had been ripped away and thrown carelessly to hang from the rafters.

She choked on a sob of fear and despair as she caught sight of her child in a pool of blood, his small limbs limp and pale, his blue eyes unseeing and glazed.

As she felt a hand grab her shoulder, and heard a hiss of a hunter in her ears, she did not care.

She felt sharp teeth piercing her neck and digging deeply, and she still did not care.

She only had eyes for her child, and when she fell into unconsciousness from blood loss, she would soon be with he child.

A tear slipped down he cheek as darkness approached, and yet she smiled as she heard the distant noise of her son's voice, calling for her.

"I'm coming, Mummy's coming. Mummy will never leave you." She whispered, even as the darkness swallowed her vision.

She let go.

* * *

><p>The vampire snorted and threw the woman's body to the ground next to her child.<p>

Sentimental humans, always attaching themselves to people and wailing like toddlers when they died.

Pathetic.

He had ripped himself from the bonds of his family years ago. His mother dying after his birth, his eldest brother dying in battle, and his father dying at the hands of his brother older than him by only a few years.

Vladimir had always been pathetic, unable to fight against the Sultan, just taking the abuse from him and holding on to that worthless silver cross that he wore around his neck like it would save him.

He had felt pity for his brother once, wanting to help him, and yet wanting him to let go of his love for God, to let go and follow him into a war against God.

And yet he could never convince him.

Right up until the day they had escaped and parted ways.

The next he heard of his brother was that he had murdered their father out of revenge, and taken control of the kingdom.

He felt a sharp hatred for his older brother. A jealously that he had gained he perfect life with a wife and kingdom to rule.

Of course, he had to ruin it somewhat.

It was only too easy to convince his wife that her love had died in battle. And he laughed in triumph as she threw herself from the top of the castle into the depths of the river below.

And he laughed even harder when he watched his brother fall to his knees in despair from a distance.

After he had been turned into a vampire, he had thought that he had been rid of his brother.

That was, until he decided to look into why his loyal subjects were dying.

He traced it back to Hellsing, and then snarled in rage as he discovered that his brother also lived, and was working for this Hellsing organisation. He was a damned human lover.

He had lost one of his subjects in his rage, tearing her head from her shoulders in anger. But no matter, he could replace her soon enough.

He had planned for what seemed like centuries, before he decided that he would poison one of his subjects with his own blood, which was lethal to anyone due to venomous properties within it that he had gained after being turned.

He then sent the poisoned vampire out to cause havoc with some ghouls, just enough trouble to send Hellsing into action.

The poison was slow working, but after Vladimir had drank the blood of the vampire, his condition began to deteriorate until he finally collapsed.

He grinned in the darkness, cruelly sharp teeth dripping with blood as he laughed maniacally.

Oh, if only he could pay his dear brother a visit before he died. Just to see the look in his eyes as he whispered his name...

'Radu?'

Before he killed everyone that mattered to him, and made him watch as he stable every drop of their blood.

Ah, the image was sweet.

But alas, he had other plans to make.

Humanity would suffer for ever having wronged him. They would be obliterated.

And he would stand over their ruins, as king of everything.

As he rightfully should be.


End file.
